Nayanshi Jain Introduction India’s governance architecture is undergoing a paradigm shift from paper-based administration to digitally enabled public management, driven by initiatives such as Digital India Programme and broader civil service reforms. The Digital India programme was launched in 2015,…
Nayanshi Jain Introduction In an increasingly interconnected world, cultural diplomacy has become an important instrument of foreign policy, enabling countries to strengthen international partnerships through shared heritage, values, and people-to-people exchanges. For India, with its rich civilisational legacy and centuries-old…
Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) form the backbone of India's welfare and infrastructure delivery, jointly funded by the Centre and states but implemented through state-level agencies. For years, the fund flow architecture behind these schemes suffered from a structural inefficiency: money was released in advance rather than as spending actually occurred, leaving large sums idle across thousands of implementing-agency bank accounts.
The Palna scheme was started by the Ministry of Women and Child Development on 1 April 2022. This is part of the Samarthya component of Mission Shakti. It replaced the National Creche Scheme. The Ministry of Women and Child Development gave guidelines for the Palna scheme on 14 July 2022. The Palna scheme is based on two schemes. The Rajiv Gandhi National Creche Scheme and the National Creche Scheme. The Palna scheme provides childcare for children aged 6 months to 6 years. The main reason for the Palna scheme is to help women work by taking care of their children.
India’s rural development policy has gone through three main phases. The first, called “women's welfare,” saw women mostly as recipients of nutrition, health, and poverty relief. The second, “women empowerment,” developed alongside the Self-Help Group (SHG) movement in the 1990s and 2000s, focusing on savings, access to credit, and community involvement. The third and current phase, known as “women-led development,” now sees rural women as economic actors who can drive local development (Ministry of Rural Development [MoRD], 2023).
In the last thirty years, rural women’s development in India has gone through several stages. It began with welfare programs focused on nutrition, maternal health, and poverty relief. The 1990s saw the rise of Self-Help Groups (SHGs) that promoted empowerment. Later, the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana–National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) institutionalised women-led development. Most recently, the Lakhpati Didi initiative aims to help SHG members earn a steady annual household income of over one lakh rupees.